Arson
by Veronica The Mischievous
Summary: His life had crashed down so suddenly, he had lost everything important to him. Second thriller fic. Ace x Luffy
1. Patient  236

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece.

VTM: Hello! Veronica The Mischievous here with a new fic! It's my second attempt at a thriller/horror so please be kind! This time I'm taking a bit of a different approach, so I hope you enjoy it!

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"…..Twelve O'clock pm., case number 236, Portgas D. Ace…"

Setting her tape recorder aside with a sigh, Kaya looked across the desk to the young man sitting in the chair opposite of her. Giving a somewhat nervous smile, she brushed some stray blonde strands on hair from her face, and cleared her throat. This was a bit unnerving, here she was, on an intern and they give her someone like this? But then again, this one was a lot better behaved than a lot of the other patients.

Across the table from the doctor sat a young man, who has shaggy somewhat unkempt hair, and almost childish freckles. His eyes was once mischievous and playful, were now empty, and miserable. He was much more pale than he was six months before, when he had arrived, but was even then was quite broken. Kaya looked at his picture in the file. In it he was a healthy young man, grinning and giving a younger boy a noogie. It was a bit hard to believe that the boy in the picture and the boy across from her were actually the same person.

Realizing that she had been staring, Kaya shook her head and took up her tape recorder once again and spoke. "Now Ace, just so you know, our conversations will be recorded…" After receiving no answer she sighed and turned on the recorder once again. "Subject suffers psychosis, depression, and pyromania…and is also narcoleptic…"

Ace stared down at the table before him, scarred hands on his lap, he looked almost like a child ready for a scolding. But scolding or not he simply didn't care. He shifted slightly in his chair, it was really uncomfortable, and the room was freezing.

Kaya bit her bottom lip a little. How to start this? It's so different in class, but dealing with these people face to face, no text book could prepare you for it. "Now let's see…it says hear that you lit your own house on fire, correct?"

Ace didn't answer. He stared at the table, the only way to tell he was even alive was that he moved slightly with each breath he took.

"Then after that incident, you moved on to burning two more buildings…" Kaya continued, Ace's unflinching silence bothered her. Didn't he feel guilt? He caused so much damage. "Okay…then um…let's get a little acquainted! I'm doctor Kaya, nice to meet you." she said with a forced smile. "So, tell me about yourself, how are you today? What are things that you like?"

Ace still remained silent, he seemed to be somewhere else, too deep in his own little world to even acknowledge Kaya's existence.

Doctor Kaya's smile faded. "Um…Okay….then…how about…" She looked over her notes. "Okay, how about this…'Why do you start fires?'"

Finally, Ace looked at her, almost like he just noticed she was there, he looked tired, and rather sad for some reason. "I start fires…because…I love fire…"

Kaya nodded as she wrote it down in her notes. It was a start, at least he finally spoke, right? "Okay…and why do you-"

"But…" Ace continued, he wasn't looking at Kaya, or at least not right at her, he was looking past her, as though he was confessing something to someone she could not see. "…There's something I love more than fire…"

"_ACE! WAKE UP!" _shouted a voice that no one but Ace could hear. It was followed by the loud roaring of a fire.

"Oh, really? What is it?" Kaya said. Now, maybe they were getting somewhere.

Ace was silent again, he closed his eyes, he remembered the thick smell of burning wood, and the loud rumbles of the flames.

"_ACE!!!"_

"Ace, could you tell me what it is?"

"But the fire got jealous…" Ace said finally, he then bit his lip a little before he continued. "…and took him away from me…"

"_ACE! THE HOUSE IS ON FIRE!!!!"_

---

"Ace!" called a rather lanky boy. He had messy short black hair and a scar under his left eye. He pouted after not getting a response. "Ace! Come on, wake up…I'm bored! Play with me!"

Ace opened his eyes and looked at his little brother and gave a yawn. "Hey kid…"

The boy gave a small pout, he **hated** it when Ace called him 'kid'. "Miss Alvida and Mr. Kuro are out…"

Ace smirked. "Is that so…?" He then gave a yawn. "So that's why there's no bitching…the quiet is pretty nice…right, Luffy?"

"**Play**…**with**…**me**!" Luffy said almost commandingly.

"Zzzz…Zzzzzz…Zzzz….Zzzzzz…."

"Oi! Don't fall asleep!" But it was too late, Ace had slipped back into sleep. Luffy slumped, now what was he going to do? All of his friends were busy, Zoro had to go to a tournament, Nami is busy with her part time job, and Robin was on a trip to study ruins in the Americas. With a sigh he prodded Ace with a finger, but didn't get so much as a mumble out of him. Luffy pouted again, and watched Ace as he slept. "Stupid 'narco-whatever-it's-called'…"

Ace's chest slowly rose and fell with each breath. Luffy watched in an almost curious manner. The younger boy's eyes wandered from Ace's chest to his freckles. He always liked Ace's freckles, they were, dare he think it, cute. Luffy quickly tried to shake the thought from his mind. Boys weren't supposed to say things like 'cute', especially about other boys.

Soon Luffy caught himself staring at Ace's pinkish lips. He blushed and looked away. Luffy could feel his face warm up as color rushed to his cheeks, and he could feel his heart now pounding in his chest. Luffy remembered when he asked Nami about why he'd sometimes feel so odd like that, she said it was a 'crush'. When she asked who he had felt that way around, he dared not say.

Even though the two weren't really related, both their parents dead, but were raised together through request by their final wills (both Portgas and Monkey families were close), it was still, embarrassing.

Luffy bit his bottom lip, these feelings had been eating at him for a while now. But where as most boys were attracted to girls, Luffy couldn't quite see the big deal, sure, girls were very pretty, but, he wasn't as crazy for them as his friend Sanji was.

Luffy poked Ace a bit more, he seemed almost unnaturally warm, but then again, Miss Alvida **did** keep the house freezing, she said heat makes her hair frizz. It was then Luffy noticed the cold more, his red hoody wasn't going to cut it, so he crawled onto the couch and snuggled against Ace. So warm, it was nice here. After a while of listening to the steady pace pf Ace's breathing, Luffy almost dozed off himself.

Suddenly Ace stirred, with a small groan he opened his eyes and gave a confused blink when he saw Luffy. "Oi…what are you doing…?"

Luffy blushed a nice shade of red. "Um….it was cold…so I just wanted to get warm…" He knew it sounded stupid, but it was the truth, right?

Ace a smirk tugged at the corners of mouth, he then wrapped his arms around Luffy and held him close, causing the younger boy to blush even deeper.

With this closeness, it wouldn't take much effort for one to kiss the other, but neither dared to make such a move, for fear of how the other might react. The two just laid there, enjoying the comfort of each other's presence.

---

"Ace…? Ace? Can you hear me?" Kaya asked. He hadn't spoken since what he said about the fire taking something from him. _'I guess that was just some random babble…probably just one of his delusions…maybe this is just a bad time to be talking with him…'_ She closed her eyes and gave a sigh. "Okay, we're done for today, thank you for your time…"

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VTM: That does it for this chapter, thank you for reading! Please R&R! But please, no flames!


	2. In Hell

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from One Piece!

VTM: I'm back with chapter 2! But first, thank you reviewers! XD

yo wuz up: I'm glad you liked this so far! And yes, I did a special preview for this in my '30 Kisses for Ace x Luffy' fic.

Navigator101: Thank you very much! And here is the second chapter! I hope you enjoy!

VTM: Thanks! You all rock! Now, let's get this show started!

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Ace sat in his own little corner of the recreation room, in his own little world, knees tucked up to his chest, and his arms wrapped securely around them. He didn't make eye contact with anyone, he hardly looked at the people at all. Ace had learned quite quickly that there were very easily excitable patients here. Such as Bellamy, a smug bastard that loves to rub in the fact that 'crazy pyro freaks' will never step foot out of this fucked up place. Now usually, Ace would have no trouble handling an asshole like Bellamy, just give the bastard a good bop to the face and he'd scramble off with his tail between his legs. But these days, Ace had been so sluggish and tired, perhaps from all the weight of the guilt he had on his shoulders.

"Hey, 'Firebug'…"

Well speak of the devil. Ace tried to ignore him, he merely stared at a scar on his hand that he got while trying to escape the house fire. Suddenly he felt something slip into his hair a give a good yank, forcing their eyes to meet. "Agh…"

"Look at me when I talk to you, you worthless little cockroach…" Bellamy said with his ever annoying laugh.

Ace's eyes darted about for a bit, he couldn't quite pay attention to what was happening (or maybe he just didn't want to), they landed on Bellamy's ever obnoxiously wide smirk, then onto the scar on his face, and then onto his badly bleached hair. A quick smack to the head brought his attention back to his dilated eyes.

"I said look at me! Or do me and my friends have to teach you another lesson?" Bellamy grinned and looked back at his lackeys. "What do you say boys?" He got a few smirks and chuckles as a response. "It's settled then…" Bellamy then grabbed Ace by the back of the shirt, and began to drag him off.

---

Luffy peeked about, no one in sight, he snuck his way up to the door of the house. He was decorated with cuts and bruises, and had an envelope in his hand. It had been ten years now since his parents died, since then life hasn't been so easy. Sure, it was easier than it would've been because he was with Ace, who had always been like a brother to him, but new schools and being more of a free thinker, always seemed to attract trouble. He almost reached the door of the house, but then, he felt something snag the envelope right from his hand. His breath hitched as his heart jumped up into his throat.

"In trouble again!? You foolish boy!"

Luffy quickly turned around. "I'm sorry! The other guy started it! It wasn't my fault! I…Huh???"

Ace held the envelope triumphantly, with a smug smirk on his face. "Heh, how was my 'Mr. Kuro' impersonation?"

"Ace…you really scared me…" Luffy then reached for the envelope, but Ace held it out of his reach. "Hey! What gives!?"

Ace ripped open the envelope, and held Luffy back as he took out the letter and began to read. "….Huh, you got into some trouble again?"

Luffy looked away. "It wasn't my fault…it was just a stupid thing…" He sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Just…please don't tell Mr. Kuro and Miss Alvida…"

Ace smiled and crinkled the note in his hand. "Fine."

"Really? Thank you!" Luffy said relieved.

"But you know…you can't always ignore the issue…sooner or later…they're bound to find out…" Ace said in a more serious tone.

Luffy twiddled his thumbs and looked down at his feet. "Yeah…I know…I just…I don't trust people here…"

Ace raised an eyebrow at that statement. "Oh? And you don't trust me?"

"Huh? No! I do trust you!" Luffy rocked back and forth on his feet. "I just…don't like **them**…"

"Well, I can't disagree with you there…I care nothing for them myself…." Ace then ruffled Luffy's hair a bit. "But look at it this way…they can't do anything to you really…even if they get mad…not if they want to keep living comfortably…"

"Yeah…but you're lucky…you're going to be eighteen soon…" Luffy said with a small sigh. "You can go off and leave them if you want. Me on the other hand…I have to wait three more years…"

Ace bit his lip a little, yet again Luffy had brought up a very good point. The kid was given the short end of the stick. But then Ace smiled a little.

Luffy was then taken by surprise and pulled into a strong. "H-hey!"

"Aw, come on, Lu…" Ace said with a smile. "Don't be so down, it doesn't suit you…Besides, you know I wouldn't just leave you for those vultures…"

Luffy looks up at Ace in surprise. "Really…?"

---

It was a bit of a tight squeeze to fit four people into the storage closet. The light flickered on and off occasionally and it was freezing.

Ace tried to keep focused, focused on his memories, it was the only way he could partially get away from what was happening to his body. Ace threw his head back, and gave a small cry, damn it, it hurts!

Two of Bellamy's goons kept Ace's arms pinned down, to keep him from lashing out and scratching Bellamy's eyes out.

Bellamy's breath suddenly hitched, and Ace couldn't stop himself from giving out a groan. Bellamy then gave a wicked cackle and pulled out of him. "Now let's see…if you remember how to show some respect!"

Bellamy's goons then released Ace's wrists. And one gave him a quick kick to the gut.

Ace gave a struggled gasp and curled into a quaking ball.

Bellamy and his two lackies then left the storage room, laughing and bragging.

Ace still laid there, curled up, breathing heavily. His eyes slowly closed as he slipped into unconsciousness.

---

"Ace! Come on Ace, wake up!"

The older boy opened his eyes and found himself staring at Luffy's wide, happy grin.

"Hey short stuff…" Ace said groggily as he sat up.

Luffy's grin then turned into a pout. "Hey!"

Ace reached over a ruffled Luffy's hair. "Aw calm down…You can't help it if you're short…"

Luffy's cheeks gained a pinkish tint to them. "So?"

Ace couldn't help but laugh, Luffy really was something else, so silly and yet there were times he could be very serious as well. Usually, it wasn't easy for Ace to be this relaxed around people, to be so playful without worrying of forgetting his manners. But Luffy, he was so genuine, and didn't care about the rest of the worlds thoughts of him. Ace found that in some ways, he envied him.

Luffy shifted a bit uncomfortably. "Well…you have freckles!"

Ace stuck his tongue out at him. "Nyaaaah! Got a problem with that?" Ace would sometimes get a little sensitive about his freckles, probably from being teased a lot about them when he was younger.

Luffy grinned again, only a little more mischievously, he knew he hit a small nerve. "Nah, I've always liked your freckles! Hee, hee, hee! They're very nice!"

Now it was Ace's turn to pout and blush a little. He felt a little flattered to hear that from the younger boy. There had been plenty of moments like that before, there was a growing attraction that made Ace feel a little uneasy.

Luffy noticed the sudden serious look Ace now had. But before he could ask what was wrong, there was a loud, shrill shriek that sounded through out the house, causing both boys to jump slightly.

"Hmm…Looks like Miss Alvida found that I switched her shampoo with hair dye…" Ace said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Hee, hee, hee! Ace is soooooooo cool!" Luffy said excitedly.

"Well of course!" Ace said proudly.

---

"Oh my god! What happened to him!?" Kaya nearly shrieked as she saw Ace being wheeled off by the medics.

Ace stared off into space with a blank look on his face.

"Nothing out of the ordinary Miss, just the patients were picking on each other…"

"Picking on each other!? No! He was attacked! Look at him! He been beaten and who knows what else! Don't you care!?" Kaya shouted. It was unbelievable! He was another human being! How could he just shrug it off so easily!?

"Spare the preaching…Just because you want to be a doctor doesn't mean you can really change the world…" said one of the medics in a rather cold manner. "These people are all sick in the head and aren't worth a damn, don't get attached to them…it's not worth it…"

Kaya gave an irritated huff and stormed off. She would have to interview him a little later to see if the was okay.

Ace watched as each of the lights on the ceiling, not much was going through his mind, in all truth, not much has gone through his mind for a long time. Deep, deep down, part of him wanted to scream, part of him just wanted to wake up and be back in his own bed, knowing that everything was okay. That the whole thing was just a horrible dream. But most of all, he wanted to see that mischievous grin again.

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VTM: That's it for chapter 2! Sorry if it's a bit rough around the edges…Chapter 3 is currently in the works and should be up pretty soon! If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them! Thank you for reading! R&R! And please, no flames!


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